Well, this was possibly our favourite cruise. What we especially enjoyed was that it was so sociable. And the ship also, although small, was very intimate and fun.

Review: I posted a review of the cruise here.
Pictures: I posted various pictures: first, Braemar herself; Bayeux; and then Honfleur. No pictures of Cherbourg; sorry!

Braemar is being stretched early next summer, and its capacity will increase from about 750 to just under 1000. I hope that doesn’t spoil the atmosphere on her. After that she do fly-cruises in the Mediterranean. This is unusual: Fred Olsen have not done Mediterranean fly-cruises before, but next year they will have two ships doing them – Balmoral (ex-Norwegian Crown) in the first half of the summer, and then Braemar will take over for the second half.

We are already fully booked for cruises next year (it’s going to be a P&O year for us, with cruises booked on Oriana & Ventura) but perhaps we will go back on Braemar in 2009. We would especially like to do either a Norwegian fjords cruise or a Baltic cities cruise, and Fred Olsen do both of these, and from north-east England, and generally use Braemar for them. So we will look forward to the 2009 brochure when it appears.

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One Response to “Braemar cruise summary”

The Baltic itineraries (with any cruise line) are wonderful. You get to visit a series of fascinating cities and can often step of the ship, near the heart of the city, and tour on foot. The Fjord’s are spectacular and unspoilt.

Once one has tried the Olsen experience, many passengers feel compelled to ‘collect the ships’. I’d recommend ‘Boudicca’ next. The ‘Black Watch’ is great; but she has the edge on ‘Braemar’ for me. ‘Boudicca’ is virtually identical to ‘Black Watch’, but has been refitted and Olsenized more recently so feels newer, yet retains the ‘classic’ ship feel.